CAN-SPAM (anti-spam) Compliance
CAN-SPAM, an acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 is a U.S. law that regulates commercial e-mail. The CAN-SPAM Act is designed to provide recipients of spam with the right to opt-out of receiving these messages, and to have their unsubscribe request acted upon.
In addition to enforcing an opt-out system for recipients, the CAN-SPAM Act also prohibits some of the common spammer trickery such as: changing mail servers to send the spam, changing the "from" e-mail address to hide the identity of the sender and using deceptive subject headings.
One challenge a small business may face is a lack of knowledge about these regulations and how to incorporate compliance into its e-mail marketing. This is one reason why choosing a service provider that adheres to the act is important. It will ensure your marketing messages are anti-spam compliant (which makes recipients happy), plus it will prevent you from being fined for not following the rules.
Ecommerce-Guide Tips: Getting E-Mail Marketing Past the Customer's Spam Filter
Automation is Crucial
One of the main reasons businesses choose a Web service to handle their e-mail marketing is because a lot of the routine will be automated for you. Generally, you can expect a hosted solution to offer a Web-based administration dashboard that you log in to and create your e-mail campaigns. Once you have set preferences in your admin dashboard, you simply upload the new content for the e-mail and the system automatically takes care of the nitty gritty details.
The service should offer automated functions for handling tasks such as subscribe and unsubscribe requests and anti-spam compliance. It should also be able to provide you with analytical data so you can track open rates and perform A/B split tests.
Lastly, make sure the provider offers a number of ease-of-use features including customizable e-mail templates and automated delivery options to save you time.
Ecommerce-Guide Tips: The ABCs of Split Testing, Targeted E-Mail Marketing, Google Analytics: Advance Segmentation Strategies
Analytics: Features for Testing and Tracking Campaigns
Good reporting tools are crucial to measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. While we have briefly touched on some of these features already, when you choose an e-mail marketing service provider there are a number of important options.
Something you will want to do is track different aspects of your campaign such as click-through rates and open rates. Basically you want to be able to log in to your dashboard and see how many e-mails bounced, how many were delivered, how many were opened (and by which subscriber) and which resulted in a click-through from the e-mail to the product or landing page on your site.
We’ve mentioned A/B split testing briefly — it is another important aspect of e-mail marketing. What this will let you do is experiment to see what headings and content works best to produce the highest conversion rate.
For example, a portion of your subscriber list could receive an e-mail offering a 10 percent discount, while another group receives an offer for free shipping. When the test e-mails have been sent, you can check detailed reporting in your dashboard to see which e-mail had the best response. This will help you decide which campaign you want to run to a larger portion of your subscriber list. A/B testing can be time consuming so choose a service provider that will automate the process.
Ecommerce-Guide Tips: The ABCs of Split Testing, E-Mail Marketing: Tips, New Tracking Tools
E-mail Marketing Services: Costs and Considerations
When choosing an e-mail marketing service, you have to consider your future business growth. While you may be able to find the right options at the right price today, a good vendor can handle your business if your list grows tenfold over the next year. The last thing you want is to switch providers because you outgrow your current one.
Another thing to consider is price versus options. You may discover that you want additional features right away. Some vendors will require you to upgrade — and pay more — to obtain access to some features. Instead, pick a plan that offers all options from the get-go and only requires you to upgrade based on the volume of e-mails sent.
Avoid term contracts longer than 30-days when using a new provider. Even though you can save money by paying for a yearly subscription plan, if after two months you decide the service is not meeting your needs you may be stuck with them or lose your prepaid funds. You can avoid this by trying a vendor that offers a 30 or 60-day fully functional trial period.
Look for a vendor that offers a number of tutorials and technical support. While some services may be free or quite cheap, technical support may not be included with these accounts. Make sure you aren’t left hanging if you encounter a problem when creating your e-mail marketing campaigns.
Lastly, research the vendor. You can Google product and service reviews to find feedback that’s not hosted on the company’s own testimonial page. Another way to learn more about a vendor is to check its site for case studies that include their customer’s business name and contact details. Don’t be scared to e-mail another customer to ask how happy they are with the service.
|
E-mail Marketing Service Providers |
| Product |
Features |
Business Accounts (5,000 subscribers or e-mails) |
| Campaigner |
E-mail templates, import contact list, 24/7 customer support, unlimited number of e-mails, 1-MB image hosting, list building forms, CAN-SPAM compliant (all features)
|
$10/month (0-500 contacts/unlimited e- mails) up to $40/month (2,501-5,000 contacts/unlimited e-mails). Offers a 30-day free trial account. |
| Constant Contact |
Step-by-step e-mail creation, e-mail templates, list management, e-mail delivery, tracking and reporting, permission-based practices (all features) |
$15/month (0-500 contacts/unlimited e- mails) up to $50/month (2,501-5,000 contacts/unlimited e-mails). Offers a free 60-day trial account. |
| EmailDirect |
Build and store creative assets, manage data, browse database, filters, automatic delivery, in-depth reporting, track clicks (all features) |
$60/month (up to 2,000 e-mails) to $130/month for 5,000 e-mails. Full service plans offered. Free trial available. |
ELyris HQ
(formerly EmailLabs) |
Create newsletters, manage lists, schedule e-mails, view reports, segment and target, build forms, triggered messages (all features) |
Packages available. Based on e-mail volume and starts at $299 a month for up to 50,000 e-mails. Pricing not available on Web site. Online demo available. |
eWayDirect
(Direct|Connect Platform) |
APIs, sales tracking, ecommerce integration, HTML heat-mapping to optimize your creative, automated cascades, dynamic segmentation, plus website re-engagement and transition marketing (all features) |
eWayDirect does not have a public rate card, however pricing is based on the number of messages deployed per month on a CPM-basis, with volume discounts offered. |
| Knotice |
Delivery assurance, private IP address assignment, standard authentication protocols, ISP white listing services, campaign preview, inbox monitoring, analytics, data management and segmentation, on-demand e-mail and landing page development (all features) |
Knotice's Concentri platform, which includes SiteTarget, E-mailPlus, Mobile, and other direct digital marketing tools, starts at $250 per month plus usage charges. Customers are charged only for the services they use. |
| RatePoint |
RatePoint offers customer-feedback tools, e-mail Marketing, survey tools, product reviews and more in one platform. E-mail marketing services feature deliverability, editor and more than 100 professionally designed e-mail templates (all features). |
$9.95/month (250 e-mail addresses) up to $29.95/month (5,000 e-mail addresses). Offers a free 30-day trial account. |
Vangie Beal is a veteran online seller and frequent contributor to ECommerce-Guide.com. She is also managing editor of Webopedia.com. You can tweet with her online @AuroraGG.
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
